Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Eric Holder put out a sort of open letter to the people of Ferguson, MO today which seems to indicate that he does indeed have a pulse after all. Naturally, it was pathetic.

It includes such gems as:

The Justice Department will defend the right of protesters to peacefully demonstrate and for the media to cover a story that must be told.

Um, really? Then go ahead. Do some defending. Send in Federal Marshalls to keep the local cops from going all goon squad on peaceful protestors. Or, I don't know, do. . . something? Anything? It's easy to say "we defend the rights of protestors" it's like putting an "I support the troops" sticker on your car. It means nothing unless you do some actual supporting. So far, the justice department has done exactly nothing to support anyone's rights in Ferguson.

At the same time, good law enforcement requires forging bonds of trust between the police and the public. This trust is all-important, but it is also fragile. It requires that force be used in appropriate ways. Enforcement priorities and arrest patterns must not lead to disparate treatment under the law, even if such treatment is unintended.

Yes, the bond of trust is so fragile. So easily broken. I mean, you murder one defenseless kid, and all of a sudden people don't trust you anymore.

In order to begin the healing process, however, we must first see an end to the acts of violence in the streets of Ferguson. Although these acts have been committed by a very small minority — and, in many cases, by individuals from outside Ferguson — they seriously undermine, rather than advance, the cause of justice.

Hmm, and what about the police? Should they maybe also stop committing acts of violence? Or are the violent acts all being committed by this small minority of outsiders? Nope. Nowhere in the letter does Holder mention at all that the police are beating, gassing and shooting peaceful protestors and reporters (the people whose rights he pledges to support) on a nightly basis.

If this is what Holder comes up with when he does finally stir, I'd just a s soon he went back to being comatose.

This article ran this morning in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution under the headline

"Officials Trying to Learn From Tragedy."By SHARON COHEN

The Associated Press

They've lined the streets with police in riot gear, brought in a new black commander with an empathetic manner, imposed a curfew, lifted it and deployed the National Guard. But violence is still erupting nightly in Ferguson, Missouri.

Yeah, wow, what a mystery. How could violence still possibly be erupting after all that? Gosh, no matter how many people we beat, tear-gas, and pelt with rubber-coated bullets, there still seems to be violence occurring!

And are we really going to pretend that the violence is not coming from the cops?

Yeah, these guys look like they're just trying to restore peace and order.

Let's see, one guy is armed with a rifle, the other with a posterboard sign.* Who do you think is instigating violence? Apparently, it's a mystery. At least to Sharon Cohen, who is officially part of the problem.